Black Dawn
by Xyex
Summary: Set in an AU 7 years after Cell. (No Buu) A new enemy arrives from deep space and the line between good and evil begins blur. Friendships form that could either hold the universe together or tear it apart.
1. Fist Day

A/N: Ugh, I can't believe I'm starting another one of these! As if four isn't enough at once! (plus 2 originals on Fictionpress.....) Anyway, there's a point to this rambling. I want to explain that this is, as usual, an AU. Secondly, Gohan/Videl fans may not like some things that will be in this story but just give it a chance. Third, I've noticed a trend in my stories. I go from one action scene to the next and on, I forget about all the stuff in between in many places. Sure, it's good action fun but I want to do more with this story. (Just don't expect a master piece.) Lastly, I'm replacing the Buu saga all together with this, starts around the same time though, before Gohan and Videl ever even met. Anyway, enough pointless words, into the story we go!  
  
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Chapter One ~ First Day  
  
As the sun crested over the distant mountains a flock of birds chirped and flew off into the distance. The dawning sun tinted the cloudless sky a vibrant orange and glistened off the recently washed dome of the small Son home. Most people were still asleep this time of day or just getting out of bed. However Chi-Chi wasn't most people. She'd been up for an hour already and had practically a four course meal already laid out on the table and more pancakes cooking. In a few minutes she knew Goten would wake up and charge into his brother's room using the elder half Sai-jin as a trampoline to wake him up. Then two very hungry Sai-jins would find their way to the kitchen and the food would be gone in less than ten minutes.  
  
Sure enough she heard Gohan's loud cry of shock and Goten's playful laugh as she set out the last batch of pancakes and placed a gallon of Orange Juice out for Gohan and a half gallon for Goten. A moment later Gohan stepped into the room with Goten on his shoulders. At sight of the food Goten let out a cry of joy and leapt off his brother's back and settled into his seat instantly digging into the food. Chi-Chi smiled as Gohan took his seat and dug in as well. The only time this daily routine was ever interrupted was when Goten stayed over visiting Trunks. Then he always came home complaining he was hungry and wondering how Trunks could survive without someone around who could cook.  
  
As Chi-Chi sighed and started preparing her own breakfast a familiar shadow passed by the window to her side. "Hello Piccolo." she said not bothering to turn around. She heard Goten's squeal of delight as he rushed over the table and jumped onto Piccolo.  
  
"Hey squirt." he said rubbing the pint sized Goku look-a-like's head. As Goten swallowed the last of his food he ran out of the house to play in the woods. As Goten vanished from sight Piccolo leaned against the doorframe waiting for Gohan to finish eating so his attention wouldn't be divided. When at last Gohan emptied his last plate Piccolo spoke up. "I'm not a messenger you know."  
  
Looking up Gohan noticed Piccolo for the first time. "Oh, hey Piccolo! How long have you been there?" Piccolo just smirked. "Right." Gohan said stretching. He'd probably been there for a few minutes at least, he never could tell when someone snuck up on him while he was eating. "So what's up? What's this about being a messenger?"  
  
"Dende's been trying to get in touch with you since you woke up." replied the Namek.  
  
"Really? What for?" Gohan asked scratching the back of his head.  
  
Piccolo shook his head. "Arrangements. It's been seven years and Dende wants to do something special." Piccolo stopped for a moment as a look of sadness slipped over Gohan's face for a moment. Dende had been trying to do something every year but Gohan wouldn't let him. This year Dende said he refused to take no for an answer and wanted to do something big for everyone. "He's not taking no for an answer this year either Gohan, his exact words."  
  
Gohan just shuffled his feet a bit. It was still another month until the anniversary of his father's death but it was already gnawing on his mind. It always started about this time of year, the dreams, nightmares really. The battle against Cell would re-play in his mind two, sometimes three times a night. He'd always wake up once in the night covered in sweat and wondering if letting Cell kill him would have been a better idea. Then he'd watch Goten playing and know he'd done the right thing. If he'd let Cell win then the Earth would be gone and so would billions of other people. That and it would have made his father's sacrifice pointless.  
  
While Gohan remained silent his mother decided to speak up. "I think it's a great idea." she said walking over to Piccolo. "You tell Dende to go ahead and do whatever he feels like. And tell him thank-you for me."  
  
Piccolo looked over at Gohan again who was still staring at the floor. "You going to be okay kid?" he asked softly. Chi-Chi looked back at her son. She still didn't much like Piccolo but he was better company than Vegeta, and with Goku gone Piccolo was the father figure for both Gohan and Goten.  
  
Turning to look at Piccolo she tried to smile. "He'll be okay, he gets like this every year." She looked over at Gohan again and sighed. She was hoping a change of scenery would do him so good. In some ways Goten had it easiest, he had never met Goku so it wasn't as painful for him. "You should get ready Gohan, today's your first day and you don't want to be late."  
  
As Gohan walked off down the hall to change his clothes and Chi-Chi went back over to the stove Piccolo's face scrunched up. "You still think it's a good idea having him go to public school? Especially at this time of year. What if..."  
  
"Gohan can't live here with me his entire life Piccolo." she said glancing over her shoulder at him as she finished making her pancakes. "He needs to get away from here and his fathers friends, make some of his own, move on with his life." she sighed as she went to the table and set her plate of two pancakes down. "I just don't want to see him mopping around the house for the next two months. Maybe if he gets away for a while, makes some friends, he can finally find some peace. Goku wouldn't want him like this his entire life."  
  
Piccolo nodded. "Yeah... But I still worry about the kid." As Chi-Chi took her seat she looked up and smiled lightly at Piccolo who closed his eyes a moment before nodding and leaving. He knew that look, he'd gotten it more than once over the last seven years. Despite how much she still disliked Piccolo because of his past she liked having him around to help her out with her kids, looking over them when she couldn't.  
  
A moment after Piccolo had left Gohan came back into the room in a pair of red pants and a white t-shirt and black vest. He had his brown back pack slung over his shoulder as he kissed his mother in the forehead. "Have fun dear." she called after him as he left.  
  
Gohan took in the fresh air and looked off to where the sun had just barely made its way free of the mountains. He loved this time of the morning, the cool air of night hadn't faded out completely yet and many of the animals were just waking up for the day. With a smile and a nervous stomach about what today might bring he floated into the air. As he started flying toward the city the Nimbus pulled up next to him with Goten sitting atop.  
  
"Hey squirt, what's up?" Gohan asked.  
  
"You're lucky Gohan, you get to go to school in the city instead of having mom teach you." Goten said pouting lightly.  
  
Gohan laughed and shook his head. "Yeah, but I've got to be there most of the day, inside. At least you can have some fun when mom gets bored." As the trees began to thin out and more and more houses dotted the landscape he looked back at his brother. "I'll see you later okay? And take care of mom for me."  
  
"Okay!" Goten cried turning the Nimbus around and heading back towards the house.  
  
Gohan landed just outside the city limits and started walking toward the school. He'd flown by a few times over the weekend mapping out the city in his mind so he could find his way around. His mind was wondering as he walked. He couldn't help but wonder what Dende had in mind for the anniversary. His friend had always insisted on some kind of memorial and even though Gohan had told he didn't want anything it didn't stop Dende from doing a little something. Every year there was soft rain most of the day, it only lets up for a little while in the afternoon, the exact time Gohan was fighting Cell.  
  
His wondering train of thoughts was broken by a sudden wail of an alarm. Looking down the street he saw a red pick-up sitting in front of a bank. Then a moment later two men in ski masks burst out of the bank with semi-automatics and bags full of cash. /A bank robbery? I have to do something... but.../ He looked himself over. /Someone might recognize me later at school..../ Then he smiled. /But if I transform!/ Gohan dropped his bag by a wall around the corner and in a flash he'd transformed.  
  
As he stepped out onto the street the first two robbers had been joined by three more and one of them was huge. /They aren't that strong... I'll have to be really careful not to hurt anyone to badly./ Suddenly he moved so fast that to anyone who might have seen him he just vanished. He ran over to the two robbers behind the pick-up and grabbed their heads. With one swift motion head smacked their heads together and knocked them out. At the sight of this the truck suddenly peeled out and pulled off.  
  
Gohan was about to run after the truck when he suddenly sensed a KI spike on one of the rooftops. As he looked up for the source three small balls of blue KI sped down at the truck. Two of them hit the robbers on the back of the truck knocking them off and out cold. The third smashed off the back tires causing the truck to scrape against the road for a few yards before coming to a rest.  
  
Gohan looked around for any sign of the KI he'd felt but there was nothing. As the sirens of the approaching police cars reached his ears Gohan powered down and grabbed his bag. He took one last look at the robbers and was about to go when a girl beside him asked him something. "Huh?"  
  
"I asked if you saw what happened." she said slightly irritated.  
  
Gohan didn't pay much attention to her as shook his head. "No... just got here..." he said. He glanced at the rooftops for a second and then walked off toward the school again leaving the commotion behind him. He walked the last few blocks to school wondering about the source of those KI blasts. After he got to Orange Star High it took Gohan a few minutes to even find the main office. From there he was given a set of directions to his class which seemed to be the scenic route to him.  
  
******  
  
"Please, quit down everyone!" the teacher called out to the class. The bell had rung a few minutes ago but the room was still buzzing with talk about the attempted robbery earlier. These kind of things happened now and then but typically it was Videl who put a stop to it, not some glowing golden guy or glowing balls of light from the sky. It had only happened less than an hour ago and already the entire school knew about. As the teacher called for silence again they all finally listened. Not so much because he asked for it but because Videl had just walked into class.  
  
"Thank-you. Now before we get started we've got three new students starting today. First I'd like to introduce Son Gohan." At his name Gohan walked into the room and smiled nervously. He was pointed to a seat half way up the class beside a blonde girl. As he made his way up to his seat he caught sight of the girl two beside the blonde.   
  
/She looks familiar. Oh, the girl from the robbery!/  
  
As Gohan took his seat the teacher cleared his throat. "Our second student is Daemon Nova." The class watched as a young man about Gohan's height walked into the room. He was wearing a pair of baggy black pants and a loose black t-shirt. His blond hair ended just below his ears. Gohan saw a light blue bandana partially hidden by his hair. As the girl beside him giggled something about his beautiful light blue eyes he came up and took the empty seat in front of her.  
  
"And our last student is Sheba Nova." As she entered the room it was obvious the two were brother and sister, they looked that much alike. She was about a head shorter than Gohan. Her auburn hair hung half-way down her back and she too wore a light blue bandana that was partially hidden by her hair. She was also wearing a pair of baggy black pants and a loose black t-shirt. As she walked across the room and started up to her seat, the one in front of Gohan, he couldn't help but stare into her deep green eyes.  
  
The day went along without anything notably interesting. That is, until phys. ed. class. They'd gone outside to the field and set up for a game of baseball. Gohan was talking to the blond girl he sat beside, Erasa, as someone went up to bat. "So, Gohan, where'd you go to school before this?" Erasa asked.  
  
Sharpner laughed. "Yeah, where'd you learn to be such a bookworm?"  
  
Gohan smiled lightly. "I was home schooled until today."  
  
"Really?" squealed Erasa. "That must have been so cool! So what do you think of it here?"  
  
Gohan shrugged. "It's okay. At least the school goes slower than my mom does." /And none of the teachers have frying pans./  
  
"So why'd you start going here?" Sharpner asked. "Just move into town?"  
  
"No, mom thought it would be a good idea for me to come to a public school, make some new friends."  
  
"So where do you live?" Videl asked.  
  
"Out in the 439 district, my mom owns the land out there."  
  
"The 439 district!" Erasa gaped. "That's out in the middle of no where!"  
  
Gohan grinned and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess so. I never really noticed... but dad liked it out there because it gave him a lot of room to train in."  
  
"Train?" Sharpner asked. "Was your father a martial artist?" Gohan just nodded. "Really? Wouldn't think the son of a martial artist would be such a geek."  
  
"Sharpner!" Videl said elbowing him.  
  
"Geez, sorry. So who was you dad?"  
  
"Goku." he said plainly not really wanting to follow this topic at the moment.  
  
Videl blinked at him. /Goku? Wait a minute! His last name's Son! Could he mean.../ "You mean your father was Son Goku!?" she asked in shock.  
  
Gohan just nodded as he watched Sheba go up to bat. The pitcher threw the ball and a moment later there was a loud crack as the bat connected with the ball. Everyone watched in wonder as the ball sailed off into the distance and out of view. Gohan blinked a few times, he knew most people couldn't do that kind of thing.  
  
"Wow, would you look at that Videl." Sharpner said whistling. "You may have some competition." Then he looked back over to Gohan. "So why'd your dad quit competing in the Budokai? It would be cool to see two legends go at it."  
  
Gohan looked at the ground. "There were some, problems, a while back..." he paused for a moment. "And he died a few years ago."  
  
Erasa's overly happy expression dulled a bit. "Oh, sorry..."  
  
******  
  
Sheba picked up the baseball bat as she walked out to home plate. The sport seemed easy enough to her, ball comes at you, you swing bat, hit ball with bat. Then you ran the bases. She slid into position and waited for the ball. As it neared she swung hard but careful not to use her full strength. The bat connected with the ball in a loud crack and disappeared off into the distance. /Oops... I hadn't expected it to be so easy.../ she thought watching the ball vanish. As she started to jog the basses she saw everyone's stunned looks... and noticed a pair of eyes follow her as she ran. As she rounded third and started in for home plate again she caught sight of the eyes again and smiled lightly.  
  
******  
  
Gohan was just about to tell Erasa it was okay when Sheba suddenly smiled at him. He realized it was directed his way almost instantly, she was looking right into his eyes. Blushing he looked at the ground again. He thought he heard his name but didn't really notice, until Videl tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey Gohan, you okay?"  
  
"Huh?" he asked looking up. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. What were you saying?"  
  
Sharpner leaned forward to get a better look at Gohan. "I was wondering if you ever got any martial arts training. You don't look all that buff but I caught sight of a few muscles back in the locker room."  
  
Gohan nodded. "Yeah... I've had some training. It's basically how I get my exercise."  
  
Sharpner grinned. "Good man! You should enter into the Budokai. It's coming up in just a few weeks." He put his arm around Videl who none to gently shoved it back off again. "You know Videl here's entering the tournament."  
  
"Really?"  
  
Videl looked at him with a slightly angry look. "And what's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"N-nothing." he said waving his arms. "I just..."  
  
"Easy girl." Erasa said laughing. "I don't think he meant anything. There just haven't been that many female competitors. Right?" The last part was directed at Gohan.  
  
"Yeah." he said relaxing.  
  
"Well," Sharpner began. "You've got to consider who she is. Videl's no ordinary girl you know." Gohan just looked at him confused. "Man you are clueless Gohan! How can you be smarter than the teachers and still not know who Videl is?"  
  
Erasa giggled. "He lives out in the middle of no where. He probably never even heard of Cell."  
  
Gohan's confusion deepened as he wondered what possible connection Videl had to Cell. "What's she have to do with Cell?"  
  
"She's Hercule's daughter duh!" Sharpner said rolling his eyes.  
  
Gohan practically fell off the bench as his eyes bugged out. "Y-you've got to be kidding!"  
  
Erasa cracked up at his expression and even Sharpner couldn't help but laugh. Videl on the other just leaned back against the wall and relaxed. /Gohan is so weird, but he's pretty cool. He even wanted to be my friend without knowing who I was./  
  
The rest of the day was pretty boring, Gohan even managed to strikeout every time at bat so he would reveal any of his power. As the day came to an end he said good-bye to his three new friends and started walking toward the city limits where he could take off into the air. He hadn't gone more than four blocks before the sound of police sirens reached his ears. /Well, this is a big city./ he thought sighing. /Maybe I should go check it out and make sure no one gets hurt./ 


	2. Birth of Saiyaman

A/N: Some chapters, like this one, will start before the end of the last chapter. There will also be points where I separate a sections and go back to show something from someone else's perspective. Hopefully I don't confuse anyone.  
  
Chapter Two - Birth of Saiyaman  
  
Sheba and Daemon watched as the rest of the class filed out of the room before they too began to leave. "I don't know if this was the best idea Daemon." She said looking up at her brother. "All these people..."  
  
He placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly. "We'll be fine sis, don't worry so much." She smiled faintly and nodded. As they made their way outside were they scanned the crowd below them. They were about to make their way from the school when Erasa saw them and waved them over.  
  
"Hey!" she said as they approached. "We never got the chance to introduce ourselves today." she said smiling. "I'm Erasa, this is Sharpner, and Videl." They each shook hands with the others as Erasa introduced them. Sharpner didn't miss the look on Videl's face when she shook hands with Daemon. He was about to step between them when sirens started off in the distance.  
  
Videl turned and looked for a moment then glanced back at the others. "Got to go." she said taking off. Daemon and Sheba watched for a moment then followed as well.  
  
******  
  
Gohan stood outside the police tape with the rest of the crowd. It had turned out that someone had broken into someone's home. Unfortunately for them the family was home. Now they were holding them all hostage, six people in all, and threatening to kill them if they weren't allowed to leave. He was trying to find some way into the building to help when the sound of an air car reached his ears. Everyone turned to see Videl land and walk over to a cop. /What's she doing here?/ he wondered.   
  
As he watched her something tugged at the back of his mind. At first he didn't notice it but it quickly became impossible to ignore. A large power was nearing them, not nearly as strong as him but still high. Quickly he began to scan the horizon for any sign of the nearing power. /I don't recognize it so it's not just someone fly past./ His attention to the sky was suddenly diverted by a gunshot and screams from the gathered crowd. Turning back to the scene he realized Videl wasn't there anymore. Then, as he was about to ask someone what had happened, the front door to the house was flung open and Videl rolled down the front steps. /What in the world?/  
  
As Videl hit the sidewalk she managed to get to her knees before the paramedics reached her. Then Gohan could see clearly the blood running down her right leg. /That gunshot! They must have shot her... but what was she doing in there in the first place?/  
  
******  
  
Videl climbed out of her air car and walked over to the officer in charge. "Miss Satan, we haven't even had time to call you yet." the officer said in surprise.  
  
Videl just nodded. "I was just getting out of school when I heard the sirens. What's the situation?"  
  
"We're unsure of the specifics but three people are inside holding the family, about six people, hostage."  
  
Videl nodded and walked past the officer and made her way up the steps. A moment later she was inside and could see the family huddled together in the living room. Leaning against the far wall was a young man in his early to mid twenties in a pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt. He glanced at her through his long white hair but, much to her disbelief, he did nothing. To her right she could see a young woman with a pistol in her hand. As Videl caught sight of her eyes she froze, they seemed... lifeless. "I've come in here to tell you to give up." she said eyeing the two while trying to find the third.  
  
The man with the white hair smiled. "My dear girl, this is none of you concern." he said lightly. "It would be a shame for this world to lose such a beauty."  
  
Videl growled and was about to attack when the girl to her right raised her gun and fired. She heard the shot a split second before the intense pain tore through her leg. She fell to the ground mostly in shock as the pain was fading rapidly. Before she could even get up she felt hands grab her and lift her off the ground, then suddenly she was rolling down the stairs in front of the house.  
  
******  
  
Gohan was still debating on what to do when a steak of white surged down from the sky and through the roof of the house. He realized instantly that it was the power he'd felt a moment ago. There were screams and the crowd backed away from the house as more gunshots rang out. Gohan watched the house uncertain of what to do. Then he felt a second power spike inside the house. /What the..../ As he focused there were a few flashes of bright light from the windows and the second power dropped back down. Then the white light burst out of the house again and sped off into the distance.  
  
To stunned to do anything Gohan just stared after it. /What in the world?/ By now most of the people had left but Gohan had stayed behind to see what had happened. The paramedics brought out three people on stretchers. There was a man with white hair who looked like he'd been hit by a truck, and two girls who seemed to having nothing wrong with them. Shaking his head he made his way from the house to the city's edge where he took to the air.  
  
Before he'd started for home though a thought came to him and instead he went to Capsule Corp. He landed and walked in to find Bulma standing over a stove. This shocked him more than what he'd seen earlier. "You're cooking?!" he asked teasingly.  
  
"Gohan!" she cried turning around. "It's been to long kiddo, you should come by more often."  
  
"You still haven't answered my question." he said smiling.  
  
"Yes, I'm cooking." she said hotly. "But it's no big deal, it's only instant potatoes. Vegeta and Trunks are out on a 'camping trip' this week." Gohan smiled, he knew what a camping trip meant. Intensive training that would require numerous Senzu Beans to recover from. "So what's up Gohan? How'd your first day of school go?"  
  
"Pretty good I guess." he replied shrugging. "But there was a robbery on my way to school. I transformed before stepping in but it's not much of a change in appearance." He purposely left out the part about the energy blasts and decided not to even mention the hostage thing from a little while ago. He didn't want everyone panicking if it wasn't anything to worry about.  
  
"Sounds interesting."  
  
"Yeah... but if I'm going to keep helping out in the city I'm going to need a better way to disguise myself."  
  
"Ohhh, a costume!" she cheered turning. As soon as she was no longer facing the pot of mashed potatoes it began boil over. "Oh no!" she cried turning back around to move the pot. However it was to late to save the potatoes, they were now black and rock hard. "I can make time machines, space ships, teleporters, repair Androids, shrink people, and a billion other things but I can't cook! Why?! It makes no sense!"  
  
Gohan laughed as he opened the fridge and began pulling out armfuls of food. "Your probably just to smart." he said laying it all out. "So what do you say? I make us some food and you come up with something for my problem?"  
  
She stuck her hand out and Gohan clasped it. "Deal." she said shaking hands. "I've got just the thing to, should only take an hour or so to modify it." As she started out of the kitchen she called back. "And I'll call Chi-Chi, tell her where you are. That's the last thing we need, a hysterical mother tearing up the city!"  
  
It turned out Bulma also decided to invite Chi-Chi and Goten over for dinner. Of course, once she got there she insisted on cooking but Gohan had his brother drag her out of the kitchen. "I'm cooking tonight." he called. "Take the chance to relax some mom. It only took about an hour for the meal to be ready and set out.  
  
"Oh boy Gohan!" Goten cried walking into the room. "Look at all that food! You cook even faster than mom!" Goten's eyes were practically popping out his head as he looked at the mound of found.  
  
Bulma couldn't believe it either. "Don't you think that's a little much Gohan? We've only got two Sai-jins here to feed. Chi-Chi and I don't eat nearly as much as you guys."  
  
Gohan grinned as he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah well... I thought it would be a good idea to have leftovers. That way you'll be able to eat without burning your food. Even you can use a microwave. I think."  
  
"Hey!" she cried slapping his arm.   
  
Goten just started laughing. "I don't know big brother... she burnt the melted cheese sandwiches she made for me and Trunks last week." It didn't take long for the two half Sai-jins to cut down the pile of food to more normal level. Meanwhile Bulma and Chi-Chi kept trying to find out more about Gohan's first day of school. Had he made any new friends? Met any cute girls yet?  
  
Finally, when everyone was finished eating and the table was clean, Bulma produced a normal looking watch. "Here you go Gohan, this is what you wanted."  
  
"Really?" he asked looking it over before slipping it on. "So how does it work?"  
  
"Easy, just press the little button on the side here. You'll need to put a little energy into it to activate it. Then poof, your costume is on!"  
  
Gohan reached down and did as she said. Almost instantly his outfit had changed and he looked himself over in a nearby mirror. "Oh, wow Bulma, it's perfect!" he said looking over his new outfit.  
  
"Gohan's a Super Hero!" Goten cried.  
  
Gohan looked down at Goten for a moment. "You know what... I'm going to need a name. What do you say Goten, any ideas?"  
  
Goten's little face scrunched up in concentration as he thought of a name for his Super Hero big brother. "Oh! I know! You can be called Saiyaman! No, no. Great Saiyaman! Yeah that's it! Great Saiyaman!"  
  
Gohan ginned under his helmet and put his fists on his hips striking the typical Super Hero pose. "Look out evil doers! For now you must deal with Great Saiyaman!" he said in a deep voice. It was all Bulma and Chi-Chi could do not to laugh but Goten was cheering. 


	3. Shadows in the Stars

A/N: I've discovered I suck at relationship stuff. Utter and complete suckage :/ However, since I intended to have it in here, it will still be there.  
  
iron-eyes24 - Don't worry, the bad guy is coming, and the other characters will be making more important appearances in due time. Thanks for the review! Now the rest of you need to leave some reviews.  
  
Chapter Three - Shadows in the Stars  
  
It had been a week since Gohan had started at Orange Star High and he was now sure he was friends with Videl, Daemon, Sheba, Erasa, and maybe Sharpner. It was on his second day at lunch he sat with Videl, Sharpner, and Erasa who were sitting with Daemon and Sheba... that had been awkward to say the least. Every time Videl talked to either him or Daemon Sharpner's face would bunch up in distaste. By the time lunch was over though he was sure they were friends, with the possible exception of Sharpner.  
  
Of course Erasa was insisting on picking on poor Gohan. If he wasn't starring at Sheba then he was starring at Videl. Not that the raven haired girl was immune to her friends jabs either. Erasa was probably the only one who could suggest that Videl Satan had a crush on someone without being yelled at or at least smacked. This made class interesting as well, first Erasa would catch Videl starring at the back of Daemon's head and ask if she had a crush on him. Then when she denied it she'd ask if it was because she had a crush on Gohan. The girl practically looked sunburned after that.  
  
Videl only added more fuel to the fire when she tailed either him or Daemon around the school insisting on discovering their secrets. That's one of the things that drew Gohan to Daemon and Sheba, they didn't ask questions, or answer them either. At first Gohan had thought that maybe they were just loners but he'd been almost certain he'd sensed their KI spike a few times. Then there were the 'incidents' as Bulma called them.  
  
It was one of these that found Gohan at Capsule Corp asking for Bulma's help yet again. "So what happened?" she asked him as she leaned back on her couch.  
  
Gohan sighed and plopped down on the chair still in his Saiyaman costume. "It started during our first class. Well, before actually. We we're waiting for the teacher and Daemon started a conversation. He mentioned that explosion yesterday, out at the mall."  
  
"Yeah, I heard about that..." Bulma said nodding.  
  
"Well... I said something I shouldn't have. Something that a bystander shouldn't have known."  
  
"I see, you let slip something you'd seen as Saiyaman then?"  
  
Gohan nodded. "Yeah, and... Videl isn't letting it drop this time."  
  
Gohan went on for another half hour explaining the problem. He was friends with her and knew that if she found out about him, about her father, she wouldn't take it very well. He didn't want to hurt her. Then he moved on to the problem he was having with Sheba. This got a laugh out of Bulma.  
  
"Gohan, you've got to make up your mind kid."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Bulma rolled her eyes. "It's not nice to lead two girls on at the same time you know."  
  
"W-wh-what! I-I'm not leading anyone anywhere!" he cried his face reddening.  
  
Bulma laughed. "You are Gohan, trust me!" she sighed. "This may take some time, you're about as naive as your father." And she went on to explain the different things he'd done with both girls that he probably shouldn't have. As she finished she went to the kitchen to get another cup of coffee. "So, you have to pick. Which one do you like better?"  
  
"What, no, it's not like that Bulma!"  
  
"Sure. Then why come to me and not your mother?"  
  
"You know how she'd react..."  
  
"If you told her you had a girlfriend?" Bulma interrupted smirking.  
  
Gohan turned as he heard a snort behind him to find Vegeta and Trunks standing there in very tattered outfits. Apparently just getting back from their 'Camping Trip'. "I don't see the problem kid." he grunted. "Just pick a woman and go with it. Your..." he stopped as Gohan turned away from him. Growling Vegeta walked past him and down the hall to the gravity room. Meanwhile Trunks was heading to his room to change clothes.  
  
After he was gone and Bulma was done glaring down the hall he'd went down she turned back to Gohan. "Admit it kid, you've got a crush on both girls."  
  
"Bulma! Not this again!" he cried.  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever kid, but you better get going. Your mother's going to throw a fit if you don't get moving."  
  
Sighing Gohan stood up and walked out the front door knowing she was right... about everything. He flew over the city starring down at the street below him lost in thought. As he went his mind kept drifting to Sheba, there was something about her that just... fit. Over the last week he'd been able to relate to her more than Videl or Erasa. Maybe it was the similar attitudes they had. Whatever it was he still wasn't sure what to do as he stood atop a tall building in his Saiyaman costume.  
  
"I knew it." a female voice said from behind him. Gohan turned around in shock to find Sheba standing behind him.  
  
"Wh-wh..." he stammered before regaining his composure. In his deep Saiyaman voice he asked. "What did you know miss?"  
  
Sheba smirked. "You can cut out the act... Gohan."  
  
"How..."  
  
"I matched your KI." she said simply. "Really Gohan, it's not like it was that hard."  
  
"Matched... my.... KI? Wait, you can sense KI?" Beneath his helmet his eyes practically bugged out of his head as she lifted into the air so that their eyes were even. "You... you can... fly?"  
  
She shook her head. "No, I can shrink people. Of course I can fly."  
  
Gohan blinked. This wasn't the same Sheba from school, yet at the same time she was. This was really confusing. "Um... I... how..."  
  
Sheba giggled. "This is a nice surprise. I thought life would be boring on this planet."  
  
"This planet? Wait, you mean you're an alien?"  
  
******  
  
Meanwhile Bulma was sitting in her lab working on some device or other. Just another invention to add to the pile. She was so lost in thought on the project which she'd dubbed 'Luna' that she hadn't heard the phone until Trunks came running in telling her she had a call from some guy. Leave it to Trunks call the King 'some guy'. "Oh... what a pleasant surprise." Bulma said as the furry face of the King appeared on her screen. "Is there something I can do for you?"  
  
"Yes, yes there is Miss Briefs."  
  
"Bulma please."  
  
He nodded. "Well, Bulma, here's the situation. You probably know of the deep space probe we sent into space three years ago since most of the parts came from your company. Well... it came across something..." he shook his head. "I can't explain it, none of my people have any ideas. So I've come seeking your expertise."  
  
"Sure, anything I can do to help."  
  
"That's great to hear. I'll patch through the information we received before we lost contact with the probe." There was a moment of silence as the King did something on his side of the line. Then the picture shifted giving the King the top left corner while the other three quarters of the screen filled up with the data he sent.  
  
"I'll get in touch with you as soon as I've found something."  
  
"Very well. Good day Bulma."  
  
As the King's face vanished the data rushed to fill in the void he left behind. Bulma quickly pulled up the video data the probe had recorded. "What the..." she said seeing a black shape moving through space. Obviously all of space is black but this shape was noticeable because it was passing a sun and blocking it out, yet she couldn't see anything. Wait, there was something... "What the hell? Is that... the probe? But..." she blinked a couple times as she remembered an encounter of her past. "A mirror coating! Then this has to be a ship... but is it them or someone else?"  
  
She quickly punched in a few codes and accessed data that even the government didn't know was being transmitted. A scan of the object appeared and she knew, from her memories of the ship she'd encountered, that his wasn't the same one. It was to large. A few more key presses and lines branched from several points on the ship. The lines ended in boxes and numbers appeared inside each. She'd made it a habit to include scouter technology in anything destined for space. There were four boxes in all, three individual readings and one that listed how many people were on and their average.  
  
According to the data there were over a million people on the ship. The weakest of the three readings as half a million. The second reading was at 1.7 million. The strongest reading was at 3.6 million. Nothing for any of them to worry about to much but still... It would be a good idea to let the others know, just in case. As she watched the video play back the ship suddenly changed course and intercepted the probe. That's when the video ended followed a second later by the other data. Last Known Trajectory: Intercept with Earth. ETA: Six months. Flashed on the screen. 


End file.
